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The :nv:s:bles: Actor identifies with MadLab play comically exploring social isolation at work

By: Michael Grossberg

The Columbus Dispatch - September 11, 2013 03:59 PM

Erik Sternberger finds it easy to relate to his central role in
The :nv:s:ble Play, which continues through Saturday in an area premiere at MadLab
Theatre.
"I get where Colin is coming from," Sternberger said.
The actor, 34, is the same age as Colin and has experienced a little bit of office life – the
focus of Alex Dremann’s two-act play about co-workers toiling away in various degrees of social
invisibility.
Currently in marketing as a writer of iPad applications for pharmaceutical companies,
Sternberger formerly worked for six years at an office building near Polaris.
"When you first start with a company, it’s new and fresh, but over time, you start seeing the
cycles like the ones that happen in a long-term relationship, and you can get numb to that,"
Sternberger said.

Erik Sternberger as Colin, left to right, with Chad Hewitt as Tim and Megan Corbin as Nancy
in the MadLab Theatre production of
The :nv:s:ble Play. Photo credit: Andy Batt

Dremann’s comic drama revolves around Colin, who fades into invisibility
at a publishing company for books about existentialism.
"Colin is the closest to myself that I’ve played as an actor," Sternberger said.
"He's the typical office drone who’s been at the company long enough that’s he numb to pretty
much everything. It’s a battle for him to get back to feeling something. He doesn’t believe in
anything, but knows that something is missing from his life."
When his last friend at the office is let go, Colin begins to vanish.
"He feels as if something isn’t quite right," Sternberger said.
"It becomes more of a struggle for him to get people to notice him – until they don’t notice
him at all."

Erik Sternberger as Colin, left to right, with Katharine Pilcher as Fran in MadLab Theatre’s
production of
The :nv:s:ble Play Photo credit: Andy Batt

Colin initially longs for a romantic relationship with Fran, another
co-worker. But she doesn’t notice him – partly because he approaches her indirectly, through email
and voice mail.
"That doesn’t work because no one knows you if you only communicate that way," Sternberger
said.
Eventually, Colin’s experiences force him to ponder serious questions about love, life and
the nature of reality.
Sternberger views the two-act play as a satirical comedy, with Colin as the straight man for
everyone else’s jokes.
Faced with Colin’s metaphoric situation, most people in real life have the choice to either
draft into the scenery or strike out and go for something new, he said.
"A lot of us fall into Colin’s safer pattern," Sternberger said.
"It may be safer day in and day out, but in the long run it’s not as healthy or happy for
people."

IF YOU GO
The :nv:s:ble PlayMadLab Theatre, 227 N. 3rd St.
Contact: 614-221-5418,
www.madlab.netShowtimes: 8 p.m. Friday Sept. 13 and Saturday and Sept. 14
Tickets: $12, $10 for students and senior citizens, $8 for MadLab members